ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area HGTV misinformation

Randy, grounding, as in "grounding", is simply for bonding reference and bracing of the system (in this case a MGN system) in high voltage surges. The earth, unless specifically used for a "return to source" conductor, (SWER) would never be considered a circuit path, or in the HGTV meaning, it certainly wouldn't be part of the "source".

Roger

Can you imagine how silly electricity would look to their teevee viewers if someone jokingly said that AC in US and Candian homes actually “reverses its flow 120 times a second”? ;-) ;-) ;-)




[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 06-17-2003).]

Randy, the practice of grounding the neutral is debated hotly at times.

One esteemed poster on another forum stated that he "couldn't see why we take one side of a perfectly good supply source and stick it in the dirt"

Russell

My personal favorite Hgtv episode was on the "ask the handiman" series, when they hung an exterior light fixture. The"handyman" had the homeowner do the light fixture installation over new vinyl siding that was installed on the house. First he had her cut back on all that extra conductors to maybe 3/4" of an inch sticking out of the box - "lets get rid of that extra wire we don't need so its easyer to push back the wires into the box". Then he had her push the ground wire back to the rear of the box, without grounding the strap or the fixture. Also followed by "we don't need that wire either." I wish I had this on videotape.

I have to agree with Ed's comments above.

The idea that electricity is always trying to seek a path back to the earth is a myth which seems to be widely accepted as "fact."

Maybe the producers of these sorts of shows think that it would be too complicated to explain that it is seeking a complete path in order to return to its source?

The whole concept of grounding, and referencing voltages to ground seems to be an area which is widely misunderstood.

It kills me to see some of the junk that is on TV. Right now Im working as a courier for a medical laboratory while Im in school. Going through training with the "safety officer" we got to the part on electrical safety. One of the quotes in the literature was that "the ground wire takes excess electricity safely to the earth". That ran all over me!! I didnt say anything to the guy although I wish I had. The safety officer is a really cool dude and wants everything to be as correct as possible.. so maybe somewhere down the line this could be corrected.

On another note I was on another forum for diesel trucks (Mark the French electrician is a member there too). One poster was absolutely serious that the earth must be used as a conductor and that no circuit was complete without it! Trying to present a valid arguement as to why systems are grounded was just not believed by this person. The bad part was other posters were backing him up even when electricians on the forum were stating otherwise.

That reminds me of a the argument from another forum some months ago where the guy just couldn't accept the current/voltage/resistance relationship.

Do you have a link to that thread Dave?

How does the electricity work in airplanes?

Heres the link. I dont know if it will hyperlink from this page. If not just copy and paste it.
The post to read is from South 40.

http://forums.thedieselstop.com/ubb...sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

Wow Dave! just goes to show there's a lot of bad information floating around.

I believe it was Ed who once said" It's impossible to have a technical conversation with a non-technical person"

You just have to shrug at guys like this and move on.

Russell